Artificial Intelligence (AI) is a topic mainly associated with science fiction movies like Ex Machina and futuristic visions of our world where androids are walking the streets. However, AI is present in various areas like cybersecurity or healthcare. We encounter AI on an everyday basis without even realizing it. AI is also gaining more and more presence in online shopping, opening new opportunities for merchants and buyers to build a better, tailored shopping experience. As we are eCommerce experts, we will focus on AI usage in this area, namely how you can benefit from it with Shopware, which we know fairly well.
To get a bigger picture of what artificial intelligence is, we can divide it into three main types:
- Weak AI – this type of AI can perform a dedicated task with intelligence but can’t go beyond its limitations e.g. purchasing suggestions on an eCommerce website. It is the most common type of AI currently available.
- General AI – AI that matches the intellectual capabilities of humans.
- Super AI exceeds human intelligence and can perform better than humans with cognitive properties. But, as you may think, it is still a theoretical concept.
Implementing AI in eCommerce
Artificial intelligence algorithms, in a nutshell, implement the mathematical problem of finding extremes (minima and maxima) in functions of many variables. The algorithm tries to get the best possible measurable result based on several different requirements. It turns out that finding extremes can translate into many different, at first glance, unrelated fields. eCommerce is one of them.
The search for maxima can be translated into maximizing the number of positive and minimizing negative sales events, which is the ultimate target for merchants.
Based on an already collected (and AI-analyzed) base of customer behavior, you can:
- suggest more suitable products that will encourage customers to perform further purchases
- make sure that our products are well-stocked based on current trends
- minimize losses caused by product returns
- suggest more relevant topics when the user is looking for help in the support section
- suggest better-matched products in the search bar
To achieve the goals mentioned above, the application responsible for sales execution must collect data about:
- products sold within a single order
- product sales, divided into warehouses/regions
- product returns
- promotions used within an order
- search phrases and clicks on suggested links
We should consider the data analysis by AI algorithms as continuous work carried out on a separate unit from the sales servers. This is the usually large need for computational resources for analytics. Worth mentioning here is that we could also need a Computer Vision Specialist to maintain and update more complex AI systems.
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Examples of AI features in eCommerce
Virtual Assistants and Chatbots
Do you recognize pop-up windows when you visit an online shopping website? That’s what it is about. Chatbots and Virtual Assistants are always ready to help you find the most suitable product and are always ready to answer your questions.
Getting suggestions and recommendations
Using AI, companies can offer customized content and helpful recommendations for you thanks to analyzing petabytes of data. Do you recognize the phrase “Others recently bought…”?
Personalization on multiple devices
The AI engine algorithms closely monitor all channels and devices to generate a global consumer view, regardless of whether it’s a website app, mobile app, or email campaign. Online merchants may offer great customer service thanks to this unified consumer perspective.
Natural Language Processing (NLP)
NLP technology is used, for example, by Amazon Alexa. Thanks to natural language processing, machines can easily select phrases and words used by users when searching for a specific product. As a result, it greatly improves the user’s interaction with the store and makes finding the product they are interested in faster.
Personalized messages
A personalized message is a communication tailored to the recipient, designed to resonate on a more personal or individual level. You can create highly personalized messages for example personalized checkout messages, that improve customer experience customer. Unlike generic messages broadcast to a wide audience without modification, personalized messages leverage specific information about the recipient to create a sense of individual attention and relevance.
Shopware AI copilot
Shopware AI Copilot is a comprehensive suite of AI-powered tools designed to enhance various aspects of eCommerce operations on the Shopware platform. It aims to revolutionize daily eCommerce routines by integrating advanced AI capabilities that assist in content creation, customer interaction, and operational efficiency. Here are some key features and benefits of the Shopware AI Copilot:
AI-generated content for Shopping Experiences
This ai powered feature is designed to assist in generating various types of textual content, including product descriptions, blog posts, and promotional material, making the process quicker and more efficient. It goes beyond mere text generation by also offering capabilities for spell-checking and translating the content into multiple languages. This feature is particularly valuable for merchants looking to produce high-quality, engaging content for their online stores without the time-consuming process of writing and editing. By automating these tasks, the AI Copilot enables businesses to focus on strategic aspects of content creation, such as tailoring messages to specific audiences and optimizing for SEO, thereby improving the overall shopping experience for customers.
AI export assistant
The export assistant is one of the most useful features because it helps users skip time consuming steps like filtering their requests. Simply, with a mere ‘Send me yesterday’s orders’, website admins can easily export specific data from Shopware into a CSV file with one sentence.
AI-based customer classification
The AI-based customer classification function within Shopware’s AI Copilot leverages artificial intelligence to analyze customers’ order history and behaviors, generating meaningful labels or tags for customer segmentation. This automated process allows for the efficient categorization of customers into segments such as „Frequent buyers,” based on specific criteria like the number of orders placed within a certain timeframe. These tags can then be utilized for targeted marketing campaigns, enabling merchants to tailor their communication and offers to meet the distinct needs and preferences of different customer groups. This feature not only streamlines the segmentation process but also enhances the effectiveness of marketing efforts by focusing on more personalized and relevant customer engagement.
Image keyword assistant
The Image Keyword Assistant: Your Personal Librarian With the Image Keyword Assistant, you won’t have to worry about losing track of your media files again. This AI tool analyses your uploaded images, assigns relevant keywords, and saves them as metadata. It’s like having a personal librarian for your media library. This feature solves a common problem merchants face – the need to quickly locate relevant images in the media library.
AI-generated product review summary
This function utilizes AI to analyze and summarize product reviews, providing a concise overview of customer feedback. It helps potential buyers quickly understand the consensus on a product without needing to read through all reviews, thereby aiding in their decision-making process
Custom checkout message
Through AI, this feature creates personalized messages for customers at checkout based on the items in their cart. This personalized approach aims to enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by making the shopping experience feel more tailored and thoughtful.
AI-generated product properties
This tool automatically generates detailed product attributes from descriptions, making it easier to list and categorize products accurately. It enhances the shopping experience by providing customers with precise and searchable product characteristics, facilitating better product discovery and comparison
AI-based translation for reviews
Leveraging AI, this feature translates product reviews into multiple languages, breaking down language barriers and allowing international customers to understand reviews in their preferred language. This broadens the potential customer base and can help reduce the likelihood of returns due to misunderstood product expectations.
AI Copilot for product descriptions
This component of AI Copilot assists in creating compelling product descriptions. By inputting a few keywords, the tool generates detailed, attractive product descriptions that highlight the unique selling points, aiming to captivate potential buyers and improve product listings.
Search by context
An innovative addition to storefront search functionalities, this AI-driven feature allows customers to use natural language or context-based queries to find products. For example, a customer planning a trip could find relevant products by describing their needs or the trip context, enhancing the shopping experience by making it more intuitive and efficient.
Search by image
This feature enables customers to upload images to search for similar products. It’s particularly useful for shoppers looking for items that match or are inspired by something they’ve seen elsewhere, like on social media. By analyzing the uploaded image, the AI recommends similar items from the store’s catalog, making it easier for customers to find what they’re looking for, even if they don’t have the exact words to describe it.
Some of the current plugins in Shopware for artificial intelligence
Pixup AI translator
Plugin responsible for automated translation of all the content present on your Shopware shop e.g. product descriptions or articles, within a matter of minutes.
Algolia
Algolia is an AI-powered search and discovery platform. It provides increased search speed and prioritizes products based on relevance and synonyms.
Intelligent cross-selling
This plugin offers intelligent cross-selling where you decide what products are most important to sell. In order to do it, you select the weight of products in the settings, and additionally, the software is also sorting the items by the number of hits.
Summary
As can be seen, artificial intelligence is already playing a huge role in eCommerce development. Along with further technological progress, AI will only grow in importance. Many eCommerce businesses will certainly use it for their websites or other new fields soon. Therefore, be one step ahead of them. Contact us if you are considering implementing AI in your Shopware-based eCommerce.